Volleyball Thread

[Tugg Speedman]

Yeah I was a little harsh on Loyola. I just have problems with a team playing on their home court for the title. But ncaa volleyball has limited venue choices because they do need to make money. Also several of the Loyola players look like pricks.

They said that two years ago Loyola saw they were going to be very good and put in a bid to host and got it.

Nothing wrong with that.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Loyola is just ripping the ball and collective hearts of Stanford fans everywhere.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Honestly, those last 15 points were one of the most impressive displays of volleyball I have ever seen.

[melissasmooth]

http://www.offtheblockblog.com/2014/05/video-stanfords-ncaa-finals-postmatch-news-conference/#more-8406

I love the Stanford post match press conference, especially the first minute and a half. Players looking very pissed and looking forward to revenge when Stanford gets to host the finals (Which I didn't know).

Stanford coach had a awesome comeback when a reporter asked him if Stanford was in on the recruiting process of Loyola's Cody Caldwell - 'The guys we are in on, are on my team'

But kudos to Loyola for riding the home crowd wave for biggest match.

[wadesworld]

Oops

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

http://www.offtheblockblog.com/2014/05/video-stanfords-ncaa-finals-postmatch-news-conference/#more-8406

I love the Stanford post match press conference, especially the first minute and a half. Players looking very pissed and looking forward to revenge when Stanford gets to host the finals (Which I didn't know).

Stanford coach had a awesome comeback when a reporter asked him if Stanford was in on the recruiting process of Loyola's Cody Caldwell - 'The guys we are in on, are on my team'

But kudos to Loyola for riding the home crowd wave for biggest match.

To be honest it wasnt super loud there all things considered.

[wadesworld]

Oops

Not sure why that is flipped upside down.  So I guess the oops works literally.

To be honest it wasnt super loud there all things considered.

Disagreed.

http://www.offtheblockblog.com/2014/05/video-stanfords-ncaa-finals-postmatch-news-conference/#more-8406

I love the Stanford post match press conference, especially the first minute and a half. Players looking very pissed and looking forward to revenge when Stanford gets to host the finals (Which I didn't know).

Stanford coach had a awesome comeback when a reporter asked him if Stanford was in on the recruiting process of Loyola's Cody Caldwell - 'The guys we are in on, are on my team'

But kudos to Loyola for riding the home crowd wave for biggest match.

Love Conrad.  Went from playing on a 16-2s team to leading the MPSF as a sophomore.  Crazy how much he has improved in a 5 year span.

Happy for the 3 Lightning Loyola kids as well.  They have won at every level they have played at.  They will be a force next year as well, and were the best team throughout this season.  29-1.  Congrats and well done.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Not sure why that is flipped upside down.  So I guess the oops works literally.

Disagreed.

Love Conrad.  Went from playing on a 16-2s team to leading the MPSF as a sophomore.  Crazy how much he has improved in a 5 year span.

Happy for the 3 Lightning Loyola kids as well.  They have won at every level they have played at.  They will be a force next year as well, and were the best team throughout this season.  29-1.  Congrats and well done.

They return a lot. Only Smalzer and Jasaitis leave I believe. Smalzer will be a loss because he puts up a big block and serves well but I think they can easily find a competent libero.

[wadesworld]

They return a lot. Only Smalzer and Jasaitis leave I believe. Smalzer will be a loss because he puts up a big block and serves well but I think they can easily find a competent libero.

Disagreed again. Smalzer is fine but easily replaceable. Fundamentally not very good. They were so good this year because unlike in the past 2 years they spread the ball around more offensively and didn't have to rely on him so much this year. Their libero is really solid. Extremely undervalued. Arguably the 2nd best in he country (Brinkley for UCI is hands down the best). I remember the first time I saw him play as a freshman myself and the guy I coach with both said, "He has to be from CA" when we saw his fundamentals. Sure enough, Manhattan Beach. Extends a lot of plays. When Loyola extends a play, it's almost always because of him. I think people will THINK Smalzer is the big loss, but I would bet the reality is the libero is the bigger loss.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Loyola has a player at Marquette high....Peter Hutz

[wadesworld]

Loyola has a player at Marquette high....Peter Hutz

As was Conrad Kaminski who played on Stanford.

[StillAWarrior]

How did McAndrews play?  He's by far the best HS player I've ever watched...but then again, I live in NE Ohio.

[wadesworld]

How did McAndrews play?  He's by far the best HS player I've ever watched...but then again, I live in NE Ohio.

He played well. His lack of height (weird to say when he's at 6'5") for a middle blocker is almost an advantage for him on the offensive end. He's up and open early and makes himself available really well. Explosive with a good arm. Defensively he doesn't block overly well, but he's not being overly exposed either. There were only a few points when I thought his lack of neigh really hurt him, where there was a solid sealed double block up on an out of system ball and Cook (Stanford's OH) just went over the top of him. But Stanford had the 2nd highest hitting percentage in the NCAAs this year and hit just .221 or something for the match as a team. All 3 pin hitters for them hit between .200-.245. Only Conrad Kaminski in the middle hit above .250 offensively for them and he was at .417 (which is very high), but for the season he was the only player in the MPSF to hit over .500 so even he didn't play to his average, so it's not like Stanford was able to just tee off as a result. (Just for comparison, Loyola as a team hit .422 for the match I believe...crazy numbers). Stanford just never found any kind of rhythm. The 3 pin hitters did not play well, their passing was bad, and their libero really struggles to move forward. Loyola did what they wanted when they wanted to and just took it to them in pretty much every facet of the game.

[Hilltop]

How did McAndrews play?  He's by far the best HS player I've ever watched...but then again, I live in NE Ohio.

McAndrews bounced back and had a very solid game after probably the worst game of his young career against Penn St. 

My big question is when will MU start up a Men's D1 team?  There is so much talent coming out of Wisconsin, and I'm sure they would have no problem recruiting stars from the Midwest and convince some California kids to move east.  A Loyola-MU rivalry would be awesome.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

McAndrews bounced back and had a very solid game after probably the worst game of his young career against Penn St. 

My big question is when will MU start up a Men's D1 team?  There is so much talent coming out of Wisconsin, and I'm sure they would have no problem recruiting stars from the Midwest and convince some California kids to move east.  A Loyola-MU rivalry would be awesome.

McAndrews was brutal against Penn St. Him and Smalzer almost singlehandedly lost that game for Loyola. I think the problem with an MU D1 team would be title IX. They already hace the resouces and the court, but they dont have a womens team to pair it with? The only thing I could think of would be softball but where would they play and practice.

[Hilltop]

Softball doesn't require that much space, I'm sure they could find room in the valley for a field.  Loyola and DePaul, two schools with far less space, make it happen by doubling their soccer fields as softball fields.  A mens volleyball team just makes too much sense for MU to pass up, we'd probably even see a National Championship tournament hosted at the Al, and maybe MU with the right coaching hire and some good recruiting could find themselves in a similar situation Loyola did this year.   

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Softball doesn't require that much space, I'm sure they could find room in the valley for a field.  Loyola and DePaul, two schools with far less space, make it happen by doubling their soccer fields as softball fields.  A mens volleyball team just makes too much sense for MU to pass up, we'd probably even see a National Championship tournament hosted at the Al, and maybe MU with the right coaching hire and some good recruiting could find themselves in a similar situation Loyola did this year.   

Yea, it would take a while for sure but it helps when the best boys high school volleyball state besides California is a nice short trip down 94 East.

[Hilltop]

Actually just reviewing the men's and women's sports, the easiest and most logical answer would be to add a Women's Golf team.  I realize travel costs for both a Men's Volleyball team and Women's golf team can be very high, but I have a hard time believing that is an issue for Marquette.

[wadesworld]

There's a pretty simple answer...why are you going to add an athletic team that is going to lose the athletic program money?  And then on top of that, you have to add a second athletic team that will lose the athletic program money as a result of Title IX.  Not happening.

[Sheriff]

Yeah I was a little harsh on Loyola. I just have problems with a team playing on their home court for the title. But ncaa volleyball has limited venue choices because they do need to make money. Also several of the Loyola players look like pricks.

Have you seen enough pricks to know what one looks like?

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Bump for the start of the season. Here's to Ryan Theis maiden voyage.

[wadesworld]

The women's volleyball team beat #7 Florida at Florida 15-13 in the 5th set.

[StillAWarrior]

The women's volleyball team beat #7 Florida at Florida 15-13 in the 5th set.

Wow, that's a great win.  Florida is tough this year.

[Blackhat]

 


Awesome!

[Mr. Nielsen]

The women's volleyball team beat #7 Florida at Florida 15-13 in the 5th set.

I was shocked to see them win, as I was at Al last Friday to see MU get beatdown by Rice.